Drumhead-tightener.



I. H. SAPP. DRUMHBAD TIGHTBNER. APPLIOATIoN FILED JUNI: 7, 1909.

966,477. Patented Aug. 9, 1910.

ISAAC HUDSON SAPP, OF CHEYENNE, WYOMING.

DRUMHEAD-TIGHTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Au. 9, 1910.

Application filed .Tune 7, 1909. Serial No. 500,588.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Isaac HUDSON SAP?, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cheyenne, in the county of Laramie and State of VyOming,have invented a new and useful Drumhead-Tightener, of which thefollowing is a specification.

By way of explanation I will state, that, under favorable circumstances,when the l0 head of a drum is struck, the same Vibrates, moving thecolumn of air inside of the drum and transmitting the concussion to thehead and snares in the opposite end of the instrument. To produce thiseect, there must be a certain amount of elasticity, either in the headof the drum or in the tightening mechanism. In the ordinary straight rodwhereby the heads of the drum are connected and tightened, there is noelasticity, this property residing in the heads of the drum alone. Theelasticity of the drum head is soon destroyed, and the head becomeslifeless and incapable of vibrating under the blow of the drum stick.The superior tonal properties of the old time rope -drum were due to theresiliency of the rope whereby the heads were connected to each otherand tightened; however, as this method of tightening the heads of thedrum resulted in an unsightly structure, inconvenient in manipulationand uncertain in operation, the rope-tightened drum has passed intodisuse.

It is the object of this invention to provide a tightener for drum headswhich shall combine in a single device, the advantages incident to theordinary tightening rod, with the desirable features of a ropetightener, so that, if desired, the drum heads themselves may be madeinelastic, the connection between the heads furnishing the desiredresiliency.

iVith these and other objects in view, as will hereinafter more fullyappear, the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangementof parts hereinafter described, delineated in the accompanying drawings,and particularly pointed out in that portion of this instrument whereinpatentable novelty is claimed for certain distinctive and peculiarfeatures of the device, it heilig' understood, that, 'within the scopeof what hereinafter thus is claimed, divers changes in the form,proportions, size, and

minor details of the structure may be made,

without depart-ing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantagesof the invention.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to denote corresponding partsthroughout the several figures of the drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l shows in perspective, a drumequipped with one form of tightening means constructed in accordancewith my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the tightener shown inFig. l, parts being shown in section, better to illustrate the meanswhereby the tightener is connected with the heads of the drum; Fig. 3 isa perspective of a tightener resembling in form the one shown in Fig. 2,but modified slightly; Fig. 4t is a side elevation of a modified form ofthe invention, compressible instead of retractile resilient eiementsbeing employed; and Fig. 5 is a side elevation illustrating a stillfurther modification of my invention.

Referring particularly to Fig. l, the numeral l denotes the body orshell of a drum, surrounded by the usual hoops 2, adapted to engagebetween themselves and the body of the drum, the peripheries of theheads 3 of the instrument, the hoops 2 being encircled by bands a,usually of wire, whereby the extreme edge of the heads 3 may beconnected to the hoops 2.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, it will be seen that the hoops 2 carry aplurality of oppositely disposed, equally spaced sockets 5, each ofwhich is provided with a face conforming to the arc upon which the hoopsof the drum are struck. This face of the socket 5 is held in closecontact with the hoop 2 by means of a screw 6, which, passing outwardlythrough the hoop, engages an aperture provided for its reception in thesocket 5. The oppositely disposed sockets 5 are apertured in alinement,to receive slidably, the extremities of a rod 7. This rod 7, in itspreferred form, is fashioned from steel, coiled while hot, to form,intermediate its ends, a helical portion 10 which is subsequently givena spring temper. It may profitably be said at this point that thereshould not be enough resiliency in this member l0 to prevent thetightening up of the heads of the drum, and, upon the other hand, thismember l0 should not be so hard and unyielding, that it will not respondto the blows of the drum stick. The extremities of the rod 7 protrudebeyond the faces of the sockets to which it is connected, and theseprotruding portions are threaded to receive nuts 8, which, if desired,may be provided with polygonal heads 9, whereby the nuts 5 may begrasped for rotation by a key or like instrument.

Referring now to the form shown in Fig. 8, it will be seen that thesocket 11 is provided with hooked lingers 12 adapted to en- 4lfgage thehoops 2 of the drum, this construction being desirable in someinstances, to replace the sockets 5 and screw 6 of Fig. 2. It will benoted in Fig. 3, that the helical spring 14 is smaller diameter than the15 one shown in Fig. 2, and that its convolutions are disposed moreclosely together, it being understood, that the diameter andconstruction of this helical member may be varied to suit the exigenciesof the proposed use.

In the form shown in Fig. 4, the rod 15 is made substantially straightfrom end to end, resilient elements being introduced, to actcompressively when the nuts 8 are tightened, between said nuts 8 and thesockets 5. It is to be understood that these resilient elements may beof any form, and that they may be fashioned from any substance havingthe desired degree of resiliency. In the present instance, in order topresent a concrete embodiment, I have shown them in the form of helicalsprings 1G.

In the form shown in Fig. 5, the connecting member is formed in twosections 17 and 18. The section 17 is somewhat longer than the section18, and is provided with a transverse head 19 which is rigidly connectedwith the end of the section. rfhe section 18 is provided with a head 20,rigidly mounted 4U upon its extremity, and from this head 20, adjacentthe ends thereof, rise arms 21, united by a head 22, having an aperturein which the section 17 is adapted to reciprocate. The head 19 isapertured to receive the arms 21, and is slidably mounted thereon, aresilient compression member being introduced between the heads 19 and22. As with the resilient element described in conp nection with Fig. 4,the resilient element of Fig. 5 may be variously formed. It may, if

desired, take the form of a helical compression spring 23.

'Ihe operation of the device will be apparent to any person skilled inthe art to eeen?? which my invention appertains, 'upon reading' theforegoing description in connection with the drawings, but it may bestated, generally, that, in the forms shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, whenthe nuts 8 are tightened, the resilient elements, owing to theirretractile properties, will maintain the desired condition in the headsof the drum; and that, when the forms shown in Figs. 4 and 5 areemployed, when the nuts 8 are rotated, the resilient elements, owing totheir tendency to resist compression, will maintain the heads of thedrum in the desired condition.

In conclusion, it may be said that my invention gives elastic properties.to drum heads that are not in themselves elastic; that it preserves theelastic properties of the ordinary drum head and renders it impossibleto tighten the head to such a degree that it will not vibrate; that itallows the drum to be tightened up when not in use, without danger ofdestroying the elastic properties of the heads; that it renders the actof drumming much easier; and finally, that it gives the instrument anartistic appearance.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the class described comprising sockets provided withmeans for attaching the same to the hoops of a drum; rods slidablymounted in the sockets; a resilient member surrounding the rods andoperative to eiect a yieldable mounting of the rods in the sockets;means mounted upon the rodsfor adjusting the resilient member and forretaining the rods within the sockets.

2. A device of the cla-ss described comprising sockets provided withmeans for attaching the same to the hoops of a drum; rods slidablymounted in the sockets; a resilient member surrounding the rods andoperative to effect a yieldable mounting of the rods in the sockets; andnuts threaded to engage the ends of the rods and operative to adjust theresilient member and to retain the rods within the sockets.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ISAAC HUDSON SAPI.

IVitnesses HnLiM SAPP, B. H. FINKBINER.

